


Verdant Discord

by Amai (jacthellama)



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Love Triangles, POV Third Person, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 20:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7984879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacthellama/pseuds/Amai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rika struggles with reasons on why she wanted to give Jumin a cat. Is it really to genuinely help a friend, or something else she couldn’t admit to herself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Verdant Discord

**Author's Note:**

> PoV: Rika  
> Characters: Jumin Han / V / Rika  
> Timeline: Before the game  
> Note/s:  
> 1\. Established pairing, Rika/V  
> 2\. One-sided love, Jumin  
> 3\. I’ve forgotten verbatim on what Rika said that afternoon when she told Jumin he reminds her of a cat, as I haven’t played in days after I finished his route. Bear with me please.  
> 4\. I am not saying that this was what Rika really intended. Honestly, Rika as a character is so muddled and twisted that I’d understand if Saeyoung would hate her. But her twistedness is so complex that its hard not to write about her. :)  
> 5\. Entirely in Rika’s PoV. If I butchered her character, I apologise. This was a good writing exercise for an idea that wouldn’t let me go.  
> 6\. Translation notes:  
> \- Jagiya: Honey; something that Zen calls the MC all the time. :)  
> \- Ne: Yes  
> \- Saranghaeyo: I love you

“Why won’t you reach out to other people, Jumin? It can’t only be us in RFA that you’ll be friends with.” Drawing up petite feet, Rika rested her head on knees as she stared at the laconic company heir next to her. “That’s so lonely.”

Jumin Han snorted under his breath, gray eyes remote as he answered shortly. “I don’t care for those people. You, V, and the others are quite enough.”

“That’s boring, Jumin! Really, you’re just like a cat.” she complained, then straightened up as an idea hit her. Clapping her hands together, Rika turned to the male excitedly. “I know! You need a cat! V and I will give you one!”

“Wha-what?” Jumin stared at the woman in shock. “Rika, I don’t need a cat! Give it to Zen, that’s an idea I can get behind…”

“Eh, Zen’s allergic to cats - besides, he doesn’t remind of them. You do.” Rika waved his protests away with her hands, giggling. “So, you’re getting a cat, and that’s final.”

Footsteps crunched in the grass behind them, and Rika turned to see her boyfriend walk to a stop. Automatically, she smiled. “V!”

The cyan-eyed male smiled at her. “You’re having fun, Rika-ah.”

Eyes twinkling in merriment, she jumped up to give the photographer a hug. “I’ve decided! We’ll give Jumin a cat!”

V blinked, arms automatically holding the petite female to him. “We are…?”

“No,” Jumin contradicted sourly, standing up and dusting his pants. “You are not giving me a cat. I don’t need it; I’m a bu-”

“-sy man,” V interrupted, mouth twitching in mirth. “That’s a good idea, Rika-ah. Let’s give Jumin a cat.”

“Yay!”  
“ _Oy_ \- are you two even listening to me-”

Giggling, Rika watched as Jumin sighed in defeat, shoulders slumping. Still engulfed securely in V’s arms, she tiptoed up, softly touching pink lips to his chin. “Thank you, V. Saranghaeyo.”

Smiling gently, V murmured in reply, kissing her softly on her forehead. “Anything for my sun.”

Blushing, Rika slowly straightened, face turning away shyly. Green eyes met wistful gray eyes, darkened with longing. Rika blinked - and Jumin’s face cleared swiftly, as though the expression wasn’t there in the first place.

 _Oh,_ Rika thought, averting her eyes from Jumin casually. _How can I forget…_

She wasn’t dense. She knew that Jumin liked her - loved her, even. But she also knew that the company heir loved his childhood friend as well, perhaps even more. And so, he’ll never make a move, but times like these, Rika is reminded, that Jumin continued to love her from the sides. He will continually look at her, never taking his eyes off her even from afar.

And in the deepest, darkest corner of Rika’s heart, she was glad. Because that meant Jumin will always be hers. Hers, the way Yoosung and Saeyoung are. Hers, the way V eternally will be.

Rika hated herself for it, and resolutely banished those thoughts away from her mind.

She’s pure. She’s kind. She saves people from their misery and pain - 

\- and those dark thoughts are so much like indelible ink, marring the white of her skin; marks that no one but her can see.

_No, she will never be free of them. Maybe those thoughts were her true self, not the Rika that everyone adores, sparkling and bright and strong -_

“Rika-ah?”

V’s concerned voice filtered through her increasingly dark thoughts, and she looked up, smiling into his eyes. “I’m fine, _jagiya._  Why don’t we go and find Jumin a cat?”

—

Rika giggled and played with the kitten, sitting on the floor of Jumin’s penthouse. V looked at her fondly, while Jumin sat next to him, reading through a cat manual. “She’s so cute! What are you going to name her, Jumin?”

“V should name her.” Jumin replied absently as he flipped to the next page. “You picked her, so I guess V gets to name her.”

“Hmmm.” V hummed thoughtfully. “How about… Elizabeth the 3rd?”

Rika blinked. “Elizabeth the 3rd?”

“ _Ne.”_ The cyan-haired male answered in affirmative, smiling. “After all, that kitten will definitely end up being Jumin’s one and only queen, right?”

Jumin sighed. “Then, Elizabeth the 3rd it is.”

“Oh?” V peered at his childhood friend. “You’re just going to accept it as it is? I’m surprised.”

“If anything, you’re just as stubborn as Rika, V.” the company heir smirked. “It’ll be a waste of my precious time to argue with you.”

Laughing quietly, the photographer stood and took out his phone. “You know me too well, Jumin. I need to step out for a bit, I need to call the framers and see if the photos are ready for the exhibition.”

Taking hold of the kitten’s paw, Rika waved bye bye to her boyfriend, smiling. Cuddling the kitten to her briefly, she stood and cradled it in her arms, turning to hand it over to Jumin. “Ah, you two look so cute together! She’s certainly a very pretty kitty…”

“She is, I suppose.” Jumin studied the kitten on his lap, stroking the pure white fur while it stared up to him with unblinking feline blue eyes. Silence. Then: “Why did you choose this cat, Rika? I would have thought you’d choose the male one.”

“Well, she seemed to like you, so I thought she’d be good for you!” She answered cheerfully, spinning around to walk towards the window walls. “I mean, look, she’s definitely at home with you!”

_Liar._

The word flashed through her mind, and Rika squashed it ruthlessly as she turned and smiled innocently at Jumin.

_“That kitten reminds me of you, Rika,” Jumin remarked, crouching down to stroke a finger on a white-haired, blue-eyed kitten. “The way she stares at me is a bit like you.”_

“If you say so, Rika.” Jumin smiled faintly, putting a gentle hand on the kitten’s head. “Thank you. I’ll take care of Elizabeth the 3rd that you and V gave to me.”

Rika turned away again, staring sightlessly towards the clouds on the horizon. He was wrong. She was a liar. But when he said that the kitten reminded him of her, she couldn’t stop herself. Couldn’t stop herself from picking the kitten up, and saying that this one suits him the most.

Because if that kitten is with him -   
_He’ll never forget her._  
And she’ll always be a part of him. 

For so long as the kitten lives, Jumin will never forget her. For so long as the kitten remains by his side, Jumin will always be bound to her. 

Even when she’s gone. 

_Because like V, Jumin belongs to her. Yoosung, and Saeyoung, and now, Jumin -_

_They will never leave her._  
And she’ll never be forgotten -  
Never be a regret -  
_And always, always, be loved._


End file.
